5 10 the great depression its impact and americas reaction

Write to It!Even though some of Roosevelt’s New Deal programs were successful, the Great Depression lasted many years after he was first elected.. Photo locators denoted as follows: Top

Scott Foresman Social Studies

Nonfi ction Summarize • Captions

• Glossary

ISBN 0-328-14908-X

ì<(sk$m)=bejaih< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Its Impact and America’s Reaction

by Scott Gillam

Fascinating Facts

• After Roosevelt’s election, Charles Edison, president of Thomas

A Edison, Inc., posted this notice: “President Roosevelt has

done his part; now you do something It doesn’t matter what

you do—but get going and keep going This old world is starting

to move.”

• During his first one hundred days in office, Roosevelt introduced

fifteen major laws, gave fifteen messages to Congress, and held

press conferences and cabinet meetings twice a week.

• More than 2 million young men worked in the Civilian

Conservation Corps More than 100,000 of the men learned

to read and write.

Scott Foresman Social Studies

Nonfi ction Summarize • Captions

• Glossary

ISBN 0-328-14908-X

ì<(sk$m)=bejaih< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Its Impact and America’s Reaction

by Scott Gillam

Fascinating Facts

• After Roosevelt’s election, Charles Edison, president of Thomas

A Edison, Inc., posted this notice: “President Roosevelt has

done his part; now you do something It doesn’t matter what

you do—but get going and keep going This old world is starting

to move.”

• During his first one hundred days in office, Roosevelt introduced

fifteen major laws, gave fifteen messages to Congress, and held

press conferences and cabinet meetings twice a week.

• More than 2 million young men worked in the Civilian

Conservation Corps More than 100,000 of the men learned

to read and write.

Write to It!

Even though some of Roosevelt’s New Deal programs were successful, the Great Depression lasted many years after he was first elected Write a short essay explaining why you think Roosevelt’s programs were worth trying

Write your essay on a separate sheet of paper.

ISBN: 0-328-14908-X

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc

All Rights Reserved Printed in the United States of America This publication is protected

by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited

reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise For information regarding

permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue,

Glenview, Illinois 60025.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05

Photographs

Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.

Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education.

Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R) Background (Bkgd) Opener: ©Library of Congress/Bridgeman Art Library

2 ©Getty Images

4 ©Corbis

5 ©Corbis

6 ©Library of Congress/Bridgeman Art Library

8 ©Bettmann/ Corbis

10 ©Corbis

12 ©Corbis

14 ©Corbis

Vocabulary

depression stock market crash unemployment migrant worker

The strong economic growth experienced by the United

States during the 1920s came to an end when stock

prices fell in 1929 Many people lost their savings, jobs,

and homes This period of severe economic decline

became known as the Great Depression In this book

you will learn about the Great Depression, how the

nation faced its challenges, and how the Depression

still affects us today

Editorial Offices: Glenview, Illinois • Parsippany, New Jersey • New York, New York Sales Offices: Needham, Massachusetts • Duluth, Georgia • Glenview, Illinois Coppell, Texas • Sacramento, California • Mesa, Arizona

by Scott Gillam

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Its Impact and America’s Reaction

Early Signs of Trouble Ahead

The popular idea that the 1920s were a time of economic

growth before the depression of the 1930s is only partly true

The wealthy, and some in the middle class, did benefit from the

rising stock market, where shares of companies are bought and

sold, during the 1920s Many parts of the economy, however, were

depressed or getting worse throughout the same period These

included agriculture, mining, and transportation Membership

in labor unions declined sharply Five percent of the wealthiest

people owned almost half the nation’s wealth, while the bottom 93

percent showed a decline in income over the final six years of the

1920s As the gap between the wealthy and poor widened, more

than half of all Americans were living below the minimum income

level by the end of the 1920s

This photo shows the New York Stock Exchange on a busy day in

the 1920s High prices that did not reflect the true value of many

stocks were one cause of the stock market crash of 1929.

3

Hard Times for Farmers

Agriculture was hit especially hard in the 1920s Farmers had invested in machines and land to keep up with growing food demands during World War I When the demand dropped after the war, farm prices dropped and some farmers could not keep up with payments on their loans and farms In their effort to keep

up with wartime demand, many farmers had also overworked their soil This practice led to erosion, which further reduced the productivity of the already depleted soil The value of farmland fell about one–third between 1920 and 1930 By 1930 the average yearly income per person for farm families was only $273 Even before the Depression, many people who had worked on farms headed toward cities, where they hoped to find jobs in industry

Many industries, however, were not hiring workers, as many machines replaced humans

The Roaring Twenties

After World War I ended, wages in the United States were good,

food prices were low, prices on the stock market were rising, and

there were many new goods people wanted to buy It was very easy

to borrow money to buy shares in companies on the stock market

Many people paid for some of the shares and borrowed money

to buy the rest These people hoped to pay off the loan when the

stock rose and they could sell it for a profit They knew this was a

period of stock price inflation As long as stock prices were going

up, however, people felt safe When enough people realized that

these high prices did not reflect the stocks’ true value, however, the

prices went down sharply Others then had to sell to pay off those

from whom they had borrowed, and prices fell further This was

how the stock market crash started.

The 1920s saw many new consumer goods on the market Loans

made it easier to own such items, as long as the payments were made.

5

Farming During the Great Depression

The stock market crash, caused partly by buying on borrowed money, was the first sign of an economic depression that was

to last from 1929 until 1941 The Great Depression, as it came

to be called, was a period in which business investment almost disappeared During this period, the value of goods and services

produced dropped almost one third and unemployment rose

to almost 25 percent Agriculture, which employed almost one–quarter of the population in 1934, was hit especially hard

Farm prices, which had been depressed since the 1920s, were not helped by the drought that hit much of the Midwest and Southwest during the 1930s Some farmers abandoned their farms completely and headed west, hoping to find work on the West

Coast as migrant workers.

Many farmers joined a vast group of people who sought work in the fruit and vegetable farms of the West Coast.

From Boom to Bust

As business declined, jobs disappeared, and farms suffered,

many people had only their savings, their family and friends,

and private charity to support them President Herbert Hoover

appealed to business to make new investments in order to

create jobs He did not believe in direct handouts of money

or other aid to those in need Hoover believed such help

would make people too dependent on government and would

discourage self-sufficiency

7

People who could not pay their rent or loans on their houses moved in with relatives or traveled in search of work, hoping to survive as best as they could Some even used scrap materials to build their own homes, groups of which were called

“Hoovervilles.” People who needed money were sometimes forced

to sell their belongings Former businessmen could be seen selling apples for five cents each Most people, of course, still had jobs and homes For those who did not, however, times were hard

During the worst part of the Depression, people without jobs and money had to wait in long lines to be fed by private charities.

The Coming of the New Deal

Franklin Delano Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover to

become President in 1933 Unlike Hoover, Roosevelt believed

that government had a vital role to play in fighting the

Depression Roosevelt’s New Deal consisted of many programs

designed to improve the economy in three ways To bring relief

to people without jobs, the government provided temporary

work, such as repairing roads and bridges To improve the

economy’s recovery, the government planned big projects, such

as building dams and other construction projects To reform

9

the stock market, the government created the Securities and Exchange Commission The commission is a government agency that supervises the stock market

The major New Deal programs were called relief, recovery, and reform programs Relief programs provided immediate action to keep the economy from getting worse One relief program was the Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) provided temporary jobs that helped save land and forests Recovery programs were designed to improve the economy They included the Works Progress Administration and the Home Owners Loan Corporation The Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided long-term jobs building roads, schools, and dams The Home Owners Loan Corporation gave loans to homeowners so they could pay back bank loans on their homes

Reform programs such as Social Security were meant to avoid future economic disasters The Social Security Administration provides monthly payments to senior citizens

Roosevelt was the first President

to make full use of radio to get his message across to the general public, both through formal speeches and informal “fireside chats.”

The Great Depression Continues

Roosevelt’s first term, from 1933 to 1937, was widely

considered successful The banks reopened, the nation’s

production improved, and employment went up due to the public

jobs program Congress was willing to approve the great majority

of Roosevelt’s proposed programs because of his great personal

popularity Both Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor, proved to be

tireless supporters of New Deal programs around the country

Hope was in the air, but this mood of optimism proved to be

very difficult to maintain The huge economic problems of the

Depression were proving too stubborn for any one person to solve

By 1937 the New Deal had begun to show signs of failure

Unemployment began to increase again

Six cooks lay down and sit during a

sit-down strike in the kitchen of a

hotel to protest the firing

of employees for

union activity.

11

Nervous workers began to form unions to try to preserve their jobs and working conditions A new labor tactic, the sit-down strike, was successful in the workplace but was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court In a sit-down strike, workers take over their workplace but refuse to work By occupying their workplace, strikers discourage their employer from hiring replacement workers Roosevelt’s plan to expand the Supreme Court to create a majority favorable to his ideas was also defeated Only the economic growth created by World War II finally broke the grip of the Depression on the United States

12 13

Entertainment and American Concerns

During the Depression, Americans sought entertainment that would not only help them escape their worries but inspire them to deal with their problems For example, gangster movies in the 1930s helped viewers understand how greed could harm society At the same time, audiences could get satisfaction from seeing the criminal punished

Musicals, on the other hand, were often meant

to inspire hope by showing how determination and luck could lead to success This theme of persistence in the face of great odds was seen in the real-life story of Seabiscuit, an awkward racehorse who was the unexpected victor in a celebrated race with War Admiral in 1938 Toward the end

of the decade, serious films such as Stagecoach and

The Grapes of Wrath illustrated how sharing and

cooperation were necessary if communities were to

meet the challenges they faced The Grapes of Wrath,

adapted from the novel by John Steinbeck, told the story of farmers during the Depression who had to stick together to survive

Many people escaped their worries by going to the movies.

The Depression and Its Impact

Japan’s invasion of China in 1937 and Hitler’s attack on Poland

in 1939 caused the United States to begin the preparations for war

that revived the economy enough to finally end the Depression

The nation’s main enemy was now the Axis powers overseas

rather than economic depression at home Unemployment

fell dramatically toward the end of the 1930s, as new warships

and airplanes were built and arms orders were received from

England and France With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in

December 1941, the United States officially declared war and the

Depression unofficially ended

15

American lives today are different because of New Deal programs that still exist, such as Social Security, federal housing, and welfare The New Deal idea of borrowing huge amounts of money to fight big problems, such as economic depression, was also supported by many people for projects such as the arms race during the Cold War In such cases, however, the nation has struggled with huge debts that make spending for other worthwhile projects much more difficult

The impact of the Depression can be felt today in both expected and unexpected ways

These workers benefited from the United States’ preparations for World War II

From 1939 to 1940, unemployment fell by

4 million, as the nation built more ships and airplanes.

Glossary

crash a sudden and severe decline in business

depression a period of severe decline in an economy

migrant worker a worker who travels from one place to

another in search of work

stock market an organized market where stocks are bought

and sold

unemployment the number of workers who are without jobs

Write to It!

Even though some of Roosevelt’s New Deal programs were successful, the Great Depression lasted many years after he was first elected Write a short essay explaining why you think Roosevelt’s programs were worth trying

Write your essay on a separate sheet of paper.

ISBN: 0-328-14908-X

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc

All Rights Reserved Printed in the United States of America This publication is protected

by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited

reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise For information regarding

permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue,

Glenview, Illinois 60025.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05

Photographs

Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.

Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education.

Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R) Background (Bkgd) Opener: ©Library of Congress/Bridgeman Art Library

2 ©Getty Images

4 ©Corbis

5 ©Corbis

6 ©Library of Congress/Bridgeman Art Library

8 ©Bettmann/ Corbis

10 ©Corbis

12 ©Corbis

14 ©Corbis

Vocabulary

depression stock market crash unemployment migrant worker

The strong economic growth experienced by the United

States during the 1920s came to an end when stock

prices fell in 1929 Many people lost their savings, jobs,

and homes This period of severe economic decline

became known as the Great Depression In this book

you will learn about the Great Depression, how the

nation faced its challenges, and how the Depression

still affects us today